Training
by Saturn Angels
Summary: Chapter 3 up. Selfer. Selphie is assigned to test Seifer before he can return to garden. They have to spend 3 weeks out of garden for the tests, will she survive? Then again...will he? R
1. The Mission

Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy 8 or any of its characters…it's Selphie/Seifer…so if you don't like it you can go and die. ^_^ Opposites attract sometimes you know!  
  
Vince: And introducing my muse…pet…slave person thing, since Vale got Arnvid I decided to get one of my own!! Meet Arvida *grin*  
Arvida: …um…ello everyone… *blink blink* … *hides behind Vince*  
Vince: …she's shy for now…she'll warm up to you guys ^_^  
  
Vale: … *Cry* I wanted to be the only one of us five to have a muse!!  
Vince: …well too bad. At least Tomoe, Thor, and Fantasy Girl don't have one…  
Vale: …this is true.  
Vince: Anyway read on my reviewers!  
  
Training  
Chapter One  
The Mission  
By:  
Vince (Saturn Angels)  
  
  
Selphie's alarm clock began making the most annoying sound ever recorded by man as the time reached 5:30 AM. She groaned slightly, she was usually a morning person but after last night she had about two hours of sleep -not that she could really call it sleep as she had slept uneasily. 'Last night…' Selphie thought with a small frown. She sighed and hit the 'snooze' button on the alarm clock and buried her face in her fluffy blue pillow grumbling something about five in the morning being too early to wake up anyway.  
  
She woke up again by the alarm fifteen minutes later only to push the snooze button again, after the third time she just decided to get up, as it was already fifteen minutes until six. She yawned as she pulled on her yellow dress that she always wore and went to the bathroom to fix her hair. She stared in the mirror and looked at her hair, which was extremely messy and disheveled, "Now I remember why I wake up at five…" she mumbled incoherently as she grabbed a brush and began flipping her hair. This process in itself took about forty minutes to an hour. Once she was finished it was close to seven she glanced in the mirror and took a deep breath she grinned at her reflection, "Okay Selphie! Time to start your day!" she said with a smile as she thrust her fist into the air and ran out the door heading to the cafeteria.   
  
On her way there she met up with Quistis and invited her to breakfast, Quistis shook her head with a small smile saying she had to finish grading some exams.  
  
Selphie pouted and shrugged and began her journey to the cafeteria again.  
  
It had been a full year after Ultemicia's defeat. Quistis had been given her job back as instructor, Quistis's fan club grew more, Squall was headmaster, Cid and Edea had rebuilt the orphanage to its former glory, Zell was dating one of the library girls, Squall and Rinoa were going steady, and Irvine…  
  
Selphie sighed as she remembered what had happened just last night, everything was going so good with Irvine, and she thought she could trust him. That was of course when she had heard from Quistis that he hadn't been in any of his classes that day, so naturally she was worried. She had gone to check on him; hell she had even gotten him a get well soon card. She didn't bother knocking figuring he could be asleep or too sick to answer the door, or his voice could've been lost. When she walked in worrying about all the possible things that could be wrong with she immediately froze. Irvine was in bed all right-with a nice young blonde lying next to him. They were both asleep luckily and neither woke up to her sounds upon entering. She had held in her sob and ran out of the room extremely flustered and heartbroken.   
  
Selphie shook her head marveling about how stupid she was to have been so naïve to think Irvine would limit himself to only her. He didn't even realize that she had seen what she had; he was clueless and continued his little act at being the perfect, flirtatious, boyfriend. The bastard.   
  
She was interrupted from her thoughts by the PA sounding and Squall's voice coming from the intercom, "I am requesting the presence of Selphie Tilmitt SeeD level 29 ((A/N: I think that's good right? I'm thinking about the test levels…is it the same thing?? Haven't played in a little over 6 months…)) in my office immediately."  
  
"Right to the point, Squally, as usual." Selphie said with a smile as she ran to the elevator. She pressed number 3 and waited as it went slowly upwards. Once it opened she stepped out and into Headmaster Squall's office. Boy, that was weird to say…she still wasn't used to it, "You called, Sir?" Selphie asked as she gave a small salute.  
  
"Yes, Selphie. Glad to see you made haste. You're going to be assigned a new mission," Squall said as he motioned for her to sit down, she did as instructed.  
  
"Mission?" Selphie asked curiously.  
  
"I'm sure you remember Seifer Almasy, Fujin, and Raijin?"   
  
"Umm…yeah. Wasn't Seifer the sorceress's knight, and Fujin and Raijin his little posse thing?"  
  
"Formerly the disciplinary committee here, yes. Well, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you see it, I have spoken with Cid on these matters and we agreed to let them back into garden."  
  
"Booyaka…hey, is it just me or are you talking a lot more then usual?" Selphie asked inquiringly.  
  
"Yeah, Rin told me to." Squall said with a shrug, "whatever."  
  
Selphie smiled, "Sooo…what'd you call me here for?"  
  
"Well before they're let back into garden they have to pass some tests to see if they're…how should I put it? Stable enough? No…just to make sure they won't try and kill people…you know. We have to find out how they'll react to different situations…your job is to take Seifer…and just make sure he's …calm. You will have three weeks away from Garden spending time in many of the cities around the world testing Seifer. You will have full control of the Ragnarok. I've assigned Raijin to Irvine and Fujin to Quistis."   
  
"Me? Testing Seifer?" Selphie questioned blinking, "But he'll kill me!"  
  
"I gave this job to you because I thought you would handle it well…with a level-head…but if you're not up to it I can always give it to someone else."  
  
Selphie shook her head quickly, "no, no. I was merely…um stating the facts. Yeah, but you can count on me, sir!"   
  
"Good. He'll meet you at 3:00 PM sharp at the Front Gate. Dismissed."   
  
She stood, gave a salute, and rushed to the elevator.  
  
Squall shook his head in amusement, "Now to other matters…" he thought frowning as he pulled out a large pile of paperwork.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
End Chapter One  
  
Vince: *heavy sigh* Wow! *giggle* I managed to write the first chapter pretty easily!! Yahoo!   
Vale: And even more surprisingly I think it came out pretty well!  
Vince: Thanks! Wait…what do you mean surprisingly it came out pretty well??  
Vale: …I said that part out loud?  
Vince: …  
Vale: …teehee. Oops.  
Vince: …anyway, don't forget to review! 


	2. The First Day

Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy 8 or any of its characters…it's Selphie/Seifer…so if you don't like it you can go and die. ^_^ Opposites attract sometimes you know!  
  
Vince: Thanks for all your reviews! Shout out list at the end of chapter!  
Arvida: You used the same disclaimer??  
Vince: …so call me lazy. ^_^ they don't care, do you guys?  
  
  
Training  
Chapter Two  
The First Day  
By:  
Vince (Saturn Angels)  
  
Once Selphie was back on the first floor of the garden she took the time to actually look at her watch to see that it was already one o'clock. She quickly ran over to her dorm and began packing away all her favorite things, which included:  
  
-Her favorite yellow dress  
-A pair of jeans  
-Two colorful t-shirts  
-Blue nail polish  
-Her diary  
-Her teddy bear, Ted  
-Her CD player  
-All of her CDs  
-A camera  
-Her nunchakus   
-Her beanie baby, Beasley (who is a cute puppy with brown ears and a brown spot over it's right eye. It's one of the big beanie babies)  
-Socks  
-Swimsuit  
-Heavy jacket  
-Other stuff  
  
She looked over everything she had packed with an approving nod as she looked over to her clock, she grinned slightly. A whole three weeks without an alarm clock! She grinned happily then frowned. A whole three weeks with Seifer… 'I might not come back…' Selphie thought as she stared long and hard at the alarm clock which, she imagined, looked back at her innocently. "Oh fine," she mumbled as she unplugged it and put it in her suitcase before running off towards the front gate. By the time she was half way there she looked at her yellow wristwatch (the main circular part was a smiley face) that read 2:58 she ran faster trying to make sure she was there on time, Hyne knows what would happen if she wasn't on time the first day. As she made it outside of the main building she began to wonder if Seifer knew who he was going to be paired up with. Before she was in view of the front gate she put her bag down and checked to see if she had everything, including the keys to the Ragnarok along with all the keys to all the different rooms, which hung on one silver loop. Once she was sure she had at least that, and her cell phone, and 85000 gil, she cleared her throat and made sure her hair was perfectly flipped. She took a deep breath puffing out her cheeks then exhaling loudly as she picked up her bag and fixed a grin on her face as she ran over to where Seifer was standing, his arms crossed looking at his boots seemingly deep in thought. She made it to the front gate at 3:00 on the dot.  
  
As he didn't seem to look up she blinked and exclaimed happily, "Hiya!"   
  
He looked up and for the first time took notice of her, "Messenger Girl?" he asked unbelievingly, "I'm supposed to spend three weeks alone, with you? I was hoping Trepe would be assigned to me."  
  
She puffed up her cheeks angrily, "Listen you! I'm in charge! And, and I don't want to be in this predicament anymore than you do!" she said as she prodded his chest with her finger enunciating each word with a poke.  
  
He raised an eyebrow and looked at her silently for a while.  
  
She still had her cheeks puffed up but she finally let out a deep breath and mumbled, "And my name is Selphie Tilmitt…and I'm just as capable as Quisty is."   
  
He picked up his bag, "Well I guess we're going to have to get along…or at least to the point where I don't kill you. So how are we going to travel?"  
  
At this point Selphie's green eyes considerably brightened as she thought of flying the Ragnarok again, "The Ragnarok!" she said excitedly, "It's an airship! It used to be out in space but Squall and Rinny brought it back around the time of the Lunar Cry and then Rinny became sorceress and--"  
  
"I don't need to hear your damn life story Messenger Girl, just hurry up and get into the damn ship before I decide to get rid of you."   
  
"Hmph. I'm just trying to make conversation, poohead…" she said as she grabbed her bag and led the way to the airship pointedly ignoring the mockingly unbelieving expression as his face as he rose an eyebrow, in that all familiar way, and mouthed, 'Poohead?'.  
  
They didn't run into too many battles as the Ragnarok was parked extremely close to where the Garden had settled.   
  
Selphie walked in first and asked Seifer which room he wanted.  
  
"What room are you going to have?" he asked in a nonchalant tone.   
  
"The one down-"   
  
Before she even got to finish her sentence he interrupted her, "Give me the furthest away from you."  
  
"You do know that if you will or will not be able to be welcomed back to garden depends fully on the way you act and behave."   
  
"Behaving and acting are the same things, Messenger Girl."  
  
"My name's Selphie! S-E-L-P-H-I-E!"  
  
"I'm glad you can spell, but Messenger Girl is just so much more appropriate."  
  
She grinned innocently, "You know I could just start this thing right now and dump you into the middle of the ocean and every time you get near shore I can pick you up and drop you again further out or just dump a bucket of piranhas in the water after you."  
  
"You wouldn't do that Messenger Girl." He said with a slight shrug.  
  
"She searched around in her suitcase then pulled a bucket of something out and held it in his face, it read:  
  
Bucket O' Piranhas!   
4 for 1 gil.  
(Reminder: Must be kept in water at all times.  
Refrigerate if necessary.)  
  
Best if used by year 523000.  
  
He looked at her strangely, "You do know the year 523000 is a really, really long time away."  
  
She shrugged not caring, "The point is I have a bucket o'piranhas and I'm not afraid to use 'em!"  
  
He seemed to back off a bit, "Alright Tilmitt. Give me any room, I don't care."   
  
"Alright, your room is right across the hall from mine since I have to keep a close watch on you! Now, follow me I'll show you to your doom…I mean room, then we'll go upstairs to…the cockpit and we'll fly to wherever I want to go first."  
  
"Why do you get to choose everything?" he asked indifferently as he followed Selphie down the hall to the left and to his room, he set down his bag and she went to her room and set down hers then the two began the descent upstairs.  
  
"Because I'm in charge. Because I'm SeeD and you're not. Because I attend garden and you don't yet. Because I can fly this thing. Because Irvine is a male slut and I hate him (A/N: I love Irvine! Don't get me wrong!!). Because I'm cute and special and have friends! Because I brought my teddy bear and I have a pet bunny." She said going totally off subject as she grinned anime style (^_^)  
  
He stared at her, "Right…" he looked at the ceiling imagining it was the sky, 'Hyne…what have I done to deserve this?'  
  
Once he looked back at Selphie she was already seated comfortably in the pilot's seat putting her seatbelt on, "Whoo-hoo!" she cried jabbing her fist in the air and blasting off.   
  
Seifer stumbled backwards and barely regained his balance in time to jump into one of the chairs and put on his seatbelt, "I thought you said you knew how to fly this thing?" he asked skeptically.  
  
"That's what I'm doing, silly!" she said with a childish grin, "We can go anywhere in the world with this baby! So, where do ya wanna go first, Seify?"   
  
He chose to ignore what she had called him, "I. Don't. Care," he replied punctuating each word.  
  
"Booyaka, lighten up a little. How about we go to…" she paused momentarily trying to decide, "The orphanage!" she said with a bright grin.  
  
"What for?" he asked her as if she were an idiot.  
  
"Oh fine, you poohead! We'll save that for later then. Gee. Well I guess we can start off by going to…Balamb or something?"  
  
"Been there too many times Messenger Girl."  
  
"Well ya know what? I don't care. That's where we're going! And maybe I'll start my own little magazine articles like Sir Laguna and go around staying in every hotel! In every city-"  
  
Seifer interrupted rudely, "Fine, just fly us there already, alright?"  
  
"No need to get all excited," she said sarcastically as she rolled her emerald colored eyes heavenward, then she grinned, "Gee. I dunno how Raijin and Fujin could stand you, always acting so high and mighty all the time."  
  
"On that note, Little Messenger Girl, I don't know how anyone can stand being around you and your constant happiness. It's disgusting. And what's with your hair?"  
  
Selphie pouted then mimicked him moving her head slightly from side to side, "What's with your lack of common sense to keep your mouth shut when I've got a bucket of piranhas?" she said happily while she smiled sweetly at him.  
  
"Honestly Messenger Girl, I don't believe there are really any piranhas in that thing," Seifer said as he got up from his seat and began walking towards her, "In fact I don't know what's stopping me from disposing of you and flying this ship wherever I want to."  
  
"Erm…" Selphie looked a little nervous for two reasons: one was the fact that she had decorated the bucket for a play she was doing in her spare time and piranhas really weren't in there…in fact whipped cream was… and two he had just threatened to kill her…and of course there was that little fact that she had the Ragnarok on auto-pilot…but he didn't know about that, "You don't know how to fly the Ragnarok!" she countered stubbornly as she tried to look calm.  
  
"It has auto-pilot, Messenger Girl."  
  
Selphie glared at the AUTOPILOT label as if it were its fault, "Um! No it doesn't! That's there…er…to fool people like you." she said nervously as she covered the label with her arms while continuously shifting in her seat, "A-And you wouldn't be able to kill me!"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Erm…because…" she looked around planning her escape, "Because I'm too cute?"  
  
He was still walking towards her slowly, menacingly as if he was stalking his prey, "Try again…"  
  
"Eeep! Um, because you'll never be able to catch me? Teehee!" she giggled as she jumped from her seat and sprinted passed him.   
  
Not too long later, Selphie was pinned up against the wall panting, "Cheater. No cornering! And no baby guarding!"  
  
Seifer smirked and his left eyebrow rose again, "Is that right?"  
  
"Yes. It is. All things yellow are base!" she suddenly cried before reaching out and grabbing his hair.  
  
Seifer stood there stunned, and angry. No one touched his hair! Humiliating!!! "I'm blonde, yellow isn't a hair color."   
  
"Oh." Selphie giggled and grabbed onto one of the pictures that had a sunflower on it. "hah!" she stuck her tongue out, "Nyah-nyah!"   
  
Suddenly, a very naughty idea came to Seifer's mind. "So yellow's the color you chose, Messenger Girl, for base?" he asked.  
  
"Duh!" Selphie said rolling her eyes, "Or else you could've gotten me by now."  
  
Seifer smirked slightly and walked closer to Selphie, pinning her further to the wall, he touched the hem of her dress gently, "I still plan to get you." He whispered right next to her ear.  
  
She shivered, "Erm…Seifer? Yellow clothing articles…don't count… as… as…um…what was I saying? …Oh…uh, they don't count as base!" she had to say the last part quickly or else she would lose all ability to speak. Hyne, her heart was beating so fast!  
  
She could feel her face getting hot as he actually ran his tongue along her lower lip, "Seifer…" she mumbled, and just saying his name made those weird feelings get stronger.  
  
Suddenly the Ragnarok jerked to the side, putting an abrupt stop to their little game of tag.  
  
A mechanical voice suddenly spoke out, "Destination Balamb Acquired. Thank you."  
  
Seifer pulled away and looked at Selphie, and he laughed. LAUGHED! AT HER!!  
  
Selphie felt her blush immediately depart as she became angered, "You! You! You stupid bastard! MEANIE! I'm reporting this to Squall!! You'll never be allowed back in Garden!"  
  
He continued laughing.  
  
"I hate you!" she yelled before proceeding to kick him in the shin, "I hope you die!"  
  
"T-This from the, hahaha, girl…HAHA, who goes ar-haha…ound shouting 'Peace, Love, Happiness, and Fl-Flowers," Seifer barely got through the sentence before laughing more, holding his side.  
  
Selphie pulled out her communicator, which was basically something in-between a laptop, a camcorder, and a cell phone. "Headmaster Squall!" she said, anger evident in her voice.  
  
Seifer's laughter ceased, "Wait- You weren't serious! It was a joke."  
  
"Yes, Selphie?"  
  
Selphie glared at Seifer and mouthed, 'One chance.' "Nothing, sir. I just wanted to make sure this thing worked, tee-hee."  
  
An exasperated sigh, "Alright then. I'll see you in three weeks."  
  
"Byebye Squally."  
  
"…Bye."  
  
Once the connection had ended Selphie but the communicator back in her bag, "You get one chance Seifer! And I'm not kidding. Stop being such a meanie! You have to sleep sometimes you know!"  
  
Seifer smirked, "I'll be a gentlemen."  
  
"Good."  
  
"In the daytime." He muttered once he was sure she wouldn't hear him.  
  
"What was that, Almasy?" Selphie asked turning to him, her hands on her hips.  
  
"Nothing, Messenger Girl."   
  
He smirked, and she scrunched up her nose while sticking out her tongue. Together the two left the Ragnarok, Selphie explaining to him that they would spend one day in every town, in the day they would go around looking at *ALL* the sights and in the evening they'd have dinner and go to sleep, then go to a different town.  
  
"Will we sleep together?" Seifer asked jokingly which earned a small, cute growl from Selphie.  
  
And thus…the first day began.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
End Chapter Two  
  
Vince: Hahaha, will Selphie's unyielding will manage to withstand three weeks with Seifer!? Will she survive!? Will you ever get these questions answered!?  
Thor: Find out in the next episode of Dragonball Z!  
Vince: Lol. ^_^ Juunanagou all the way! Woo! Oh-back to the subject. How's everyone liking it so far?  
Thor: They think it sucks  
Vince: …  
Thor: …Lol  
Vince: …anyway, time for the shout-out list!  
Agar: I'll try to slow down ^_^; but I'm not too good at descriptive stuff, hehe! You reviewed twice by the way…^_^ so thank you even though you probably only meant to review once.  
  
amyangel: I'm glad you like it so far! *whew* Seifer/Selphie is one of my favorite couples ^_^ so…I'm always glad to meet someone with similar tastes, hehe!  
  
Meow Mix Kid: Well, here's the second chapter…gotta start working on the 3rd!  
  
Ethrial: ^_^ thank you so much for your review! ^_^ Irvine's still good…just not in some fics *nervous shifty eyes*  
  
DemonRyu: It does doesn't it? I always used to wonder that, then I tried one day- it took me about two hours but I figured she's probably done it most of her life so probably got the hang of it ^_^ thanks for your review!  
  
Quis: I don't get why some people get annoyed with author's notes? I mean I understand If they're everywhere but just one… *shrug* Oh well. Gotta keep my fans happy.  
  
Hallia: Thank you ^_^ here's the second chapter! And I'm ready to get working on the third! Woot!  
  
elementking401: thank you for your review ^_^ well here's the long awaited chapter two!  
  
Thorn Rose: *blush* Aww…you think it'll be great? ^_^ wow…I'm so happy!  
  
Demoreign: yes *nods profusely* Seifer/Selphie are the best ^_^  
  
So! Review ^_^ because I love reviews, and I love people who review. *nod* Yes. Yes I do. R/R! 


	3. Balamb

Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy 8 or any of its characters… obviously you should understand it's Selphie/Seifer by now. Which isn't as weird as it sounds, honest!

Vince: Anyway, I'm sorry everyone for taking oh-so long to get this chapter out. You know how it is... writer's block, life (I got married :D!) And my muse left me.  
Arvida: Took a small vacation, not left. Stop being so dramatic.  
Vince: Look, point is you took an extended vacation. I really should hire a new muse.  
Arvida: You'd miss me too much.  
Vince: Not if my replacement was good.  
Arvida: You know, you're sick. Stop bullying me or I will leave you! Grr!  
Vince: Harumph

Training Chapter Three Balamb By:  
Vince (Saturn Angels)

After their little game of tag on the Ragnarok Selphie was definitely on edge, she tried to be discreet about keeping space between herself and Seifer, but alas it was rather noticeable. A meter to his left was a bit much.

"You act as if I have the plague," Seifer said somehow managing to be both annoyed and amused by the situation.

"Well how do I know? You could have contracted some weird disease! Or maybe I'm just worried stupidity is contagious. There's no cure for that you know." Selphie suggested playfully but moved a little closer to Seifer nonetheless.

They walked in silence for a while, which was certainly bliss for Seifer before Selphie was reminded that she didn't like not having anything to say. "So, what do you want to do?" she asked curiously, at the current point in time they seemed to just be walking aimlessly.

"You mean I actually get a say in something?" Seifer asked faking a sharp intake of breath, "Is being a leader too tough for you, Messenger Girl?"

Selphie stuck out her tongue stubbornly, "I just thought I'd be polite and ask. Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot. More than once. We've hardly spoken three sentences to one another yet you have always seemed hellbent in not liking me. Is it just something about me?" she asked, but knew subconsciously that there really was no reason to ask. He'd insulted her enough to know the answer to that question. "And with all due respect, which really isn't much if you think about it, I should be the one to resent you."

There was a brief moment in time where Seifer thought she'd finished talking, and just as he was about to respond she opened her mouth to add something, "And I don't hate you."

"That's all well and good," Seifer said and stopped walking. Selphie soon followed suit, they'd stopped near the docks. Balamb really was a pleasant town. Friendly, warm, sunny, always a gentle sea breeze. She could see herself living as an old maid in one of the little houses by the sea. That would be nice.

She would have hundreds of cats.

Even though she really liked dogs, but who ever heard of a crazy old lady with one hundred dogs?

No one.

Selphie blinked as she realized Seifer had been talking the entire time, "I'm sorry, I wasn't really paying attention. Did you say something?"

With a roll of his eyes Seifer shook his head, "Forget it. I'm going to fish, you can do whatever you want."

"We're supposed to spend time together." Selphie mentioned, then thought it sounded awfully clingy. But it was the truth and there really was no other way to put it without sounding really dull and unexciting.

"Well, I'm going fishing." Seifer repeated, "You can too if you want, or you can run around and do whatever it is you do with your free time."

The bubbly brunette was all but ready to give Seifer a list of her favorite hobbies, but before she could get the first word out Seifer held up a hand to silence her as if he knew what she had been thinking.

"That wasn't an invitation for you to speak."

Selphie frowned, "Meanie." she muttered underneath her breath, but Seifer still managed to hear. And even if he hadn't heard he had known it was coming, Selphie was predictable like that.

"So, you like fishing?" Selphie finally asked.

Seifer shrugged, "I find it relaxing..." he didn't feel the compelling need to mention how bad he was at it.

"I've never gone fishing before," Selphie said, "But I've watched a few people before. It doesn't seem fun at all, you just... sort of... sit there." At each pause her expression became more and more like a grimace, "It seems really, really boring."

"Like I said Messenger Girl, you don't have to watch me fish. In fact I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Selphie," she corrected automatically. She seated herself at a nearby bench and waved her arms around, "Fish away!"

"I do need fishing equipment."

"What? You mean you don't just tie string to a stick?" she asked, pretending to be surprised. "I'm sure you could get some at the item shop." Before Selphie had even finished her sentence the blonde was heading towards the previously mentioned building.

Seifer seemed to be of the really impatient sort. More so than she herself. She couldn't see how he could possibly like fishing.

Selphie sat and waited for a while, swinging her legs back and forth as she took in the scenery of Balamb. It wasn't very often that she really got to visit Balamb. She usually spent her holidays at... Trabia. Visiting some of her old friends.

Trabia, the one reason she couldn't bring herself to really like Seifer. Whenever she thought of it she was filled with emotions, and definitely not the happy sorts. Her insides felt like cold lead and she was put into such a bad mood that she almost became a completely different person.

When she thought about it nothing could really cheer her up. Not sunshine, not her friends, not schoolwork, not her articles on Sir Laguna, not even the Garden Festival Committee. She felt empty and yet at the same time overflowing with anger, sadness, and hatred for the one who caused all that suffering.

That being of course Seifer.

But not just Seifer, she blamed herself as well, for not being able to stop the missiles. She had been close... but not close enough.

She sighed quietly to herself trying to pull her mind away from what always seemed to be clouding her subconscious thoughts. She hadn't even noticed Seifer had returned and already cast his... line...

Selphie wasn't big on fishing talk. 'Hook, line, and sinker' was about as technical as she could get in that subject. She didn't like fishing too much, as stated previously, but not only because it bored her, also because she felt really bad for the poor fishies.

After all, how would she feel if she just happened to be swimmi... er, walking around, lured in by a delicious looking cake, and BAM! A piece of metal is embedded in her mouth and she fights to get away, but she can't. And she's reeled in. And sometimes, after suffering 'long enough, she's set back as if nothing happened to her. And other times... she's eaten.

And that just didn't seem like something she'd want to experience in her lifetime.

Thus, she was a vegetarian.

Sure, she had the Balamb hot dog every now and then but that didn't really count.

...And she begged forgiveness each night after she ate one.

Lost in her thoughts she hadn't realized two things:

One: Seifer had caught some innocent little fish, emphasis on little. Apparently he wasn't the best fishermen Balamb had ever seen.

Two: Selphie's nose was definitely beginning to get sunburned.

She would, of course, eventually notice number two, painfully so. But at the present it didn't bother her in the least. She did, however, notice number one in a way that wasn't really noticing it.

Not really noticing it because the reason she'd actually turned around was because Seifer had yelped because he'd stabbed himself with the hook (definitely not sanitary) while letting the fish go.

So, she hadn't caught sight of the fish. She snorted, "Having trouble?" she asked as Seifer sucked on his germ-infested finger which Selphie stared at in open distaste.

"Shut up, Tilmitt."

"Hey!" Selphie said, forgetting the problem at hand, "You called me by my name! Sort of. But, it's Selphie. Not Tilmitt." she stood from her comfortable spot on the bench to examine Seifer's injury.

Which was bleeding a hell of a lot for being attacked by a tiny hook.

No, actually she didn't see what Seifer was making a big fuss over. There was no blood at all yet he acted as if he was about to die of blood loss. Always the walking pharmacy Selphie pulled a band-aid from the back pocket of her dress (Yes, she really did keep stuff in there), and put it on Seifer's finger. "The disinfectant is on the Ragnarok so I can give that to you later." she added.

Seifer shrugged, "It's not that big of a deal. I was over-reacting simply to over-react."

Rolling her green eyes heavenward Selphie chose to stay closer to Seifer. She sat with her legs hanging off the edge of the dock, barely able to reach the water's surface with her toes.

Ah, the horrible evils of being short. She heard Seifer snicker and knew why, but didn't let it get to her. After all, she wasn't short. Everyone else was tall.

It was as simple as that.

Selphie hummed a tune to herself for the majority of the time they spent by the sea, of she had known what they would be doing all day she would've brought her journal with her. She planned on writing in her journal about each day for the next three weeks. She stuck her tongue out as she caught a glimpse of the locks of hair closest to her face. They had started to curl because of the humidity.

She hated that.

Her hair was going to look weird for the rest of the day.

Pouting, she tried to flatten and flip her hair with her hands. It worked, a little. And somehow managed to make it look even weirder.

She shrugged and decided she wasn't out to impress anyone anyway.

She could just be herself.

Nothing to be ashamed of.

She leaned on her hands and kicked her feet back and forth, making tiny splashes and ripples in the water. Her arm twitched and her hand instinctively tried to straighten the unfortunate tresses once more.

If the front of her hair looked like that she didn't want to think of what the back looked like.

"A hat would have been a good idea," Seifer said offhandedly causing Selphie to jump simply because it had been so quiet for so long. Which she thought was kind of funny because they must have been there for hours and still Seifer hadn't really caught anything.

"Why's that?"

"Your scalp is sunburned."

"Agh!" Selphie reached up a hand to gingerly touch the part in her hair. He was right. "This sucks!" she muttered to herself, why hadn't she considered bringing a hat? One of those wide-brimmed ones would have been cool. Maybe with a sunflower on it.

She liked sunflowers.

But now wasn't the time to think about that. She pressed a bit harder on her scalp, testing how bad the damage was. It could be worse. But then again it could be nonexistent which it certainly wasn't.

"Did you want to go back to the Ragnarok to eat something?" Seifer asked, courteous for once though it was probably only because he was hungry.

Selphie didn't have a hat but she wouldn't let that stop her! There were plenty of other options. Like... wearing a towel on her head. She could make it into a fashion statement.

"Huh? Oh, are you sure you want to head in so soon? I mean, you haven't caught anything."

That seemed to push a button with Seifer as he straightened up his shoulders a bit, "It isn't as easy as it looks."

"What's so hard about waiting for a fish to nibble bait?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, "If you're bad at something like fishing it automatically makes you bad at everything in life."

"You've never even tried fishing."

"I don't have to. It's simple enough."

"I'd like to see you try."

Now, Selphie had certainly seen that coming. It may have been deja vu, or just intuition. Nonetheless she shrugged, "Fine. After I prove you wrong we can go and get something to eat. Or perhaps have Zell's mom cook the giant fish I'm sure to catch."

Seifer scoffed, "It's all yours." he said, handing her the fishing rod as if it were a crown presented at a royal coronation.

Selphie curtsied, or tried but unfortunately her dress was a bit too constricting and so she flailed a bit trying to regain her balance before she fell over.

Seifer smirked, "Is that part of your fishing technique?"

"Yes." Selphie muttered grumpily as she looked at the rod in her hands. Now... what was she supposed to do exactly?

Okay, so... the string went out into the water... and the reel must be to... reel the fish in once it bit. And the button where her index finger was...

...what was that for?

She pressed it experimentally and the weight tied to the end of the string fell to the floor. That was to make it go far, so she thought. To cast it. 'Cast' it.

Seifer shook his head and she could imagine him saying something like 'Oh, this is going to be hilarious.' But he stayed silent.

Selphie drew back, ready to cast and Seifer spoke up.

"It'd be a good thing if you had bait on the other end, Tilmitt."

"I knew that." Selphie answered huffily. But she couldn't kill a cute little worm just for the sick pleasure crazed people get from fishing. Poor worms... so cute and wiggly. She looked at them, squirming, "Isn't there something else I could use?"

"You could try your luck without bait." he suggested sarcastically, a suggestion that Selphie took despite knowing that he wasn't being serious.

She drew her arm back, pressed the button, and (keeping a tight grip on the handle) flung her arm forward.

She didn't see the line go very far, but she did hear a loud cry from behind her.

Turning on her heel she put a hand to her mouth as she realized exactly what would happen. "Why didn't you stand further away?" she asked, nearly fainting at the sight of the hook which had caught the right side of Seifer's lower lip.

She stared at it for a while which seemed to annoy Seifer, "Don't just stand there!" he said. Selphie dropped the fishing rod, which tugged at Seifer's lip just a little bit, but enough for him to yell out some vague curse.

"I'm sorry!" she said, "Now hold still-"

Seifer backed away, his hands held to keep Selphie at a distance, "You'll make it worse."

"Don't be a baby!" she scolded, "It can't be much worse. Maybe you could leave it in as a piercing. You know, lip rings can be very sexy."

He glared at her.

She smiled apologetically, "Sorry- I'll go get someone to help you then!"

"No." He said, motioning for her to come back. His eyes narrowed in concentration, and maybe just a little pain, as he himself grabbed the hook- felt which way it had gone in, and yanked it out without making the whole any bigger.

Selphie apologized profusely, "I'm sorry! Really sorry! Did it hurt? I suppose that's a stupid question of course it hurt, I'm sorry."

"Well, you lost the bet." Seifer said, trying to forget about it as he rubbed his lower lip.

"Why?" Selphie asked mischievously, "I'd say I won. I did say I'd catch a big fish, and that's what I did."

Kind of.

-

End Chapter Three

Vince: Well! I hope you liked it, and now it's time to go to bed. :) But not until I finish the shout-out list of course! I hope all of you are still reading, though I know it's pretty much impossible. Ugh. Damn writer's block!

Fle: Thanks :) It took me a while but I did 'keep it up'.

dyna: Thank you:D Hope you're still reading!

Phoenix30: Aw, thank you:D I didn't have much time for funny author's notes this time though. Woe.

Magwen: Well, I know you said really soon but... apparently my time goes by really really fast and... it's not soon anymore. But. I hope you're still reading!

arien: Sorry to keep you waiting so long! And thank you.

miserene: Thank you :)

I'm just a person: Thanks! Yes, I like pretty much anyone with Selphie. Probably because she's one of my favorite characters from Final Fantasy VIII.

Forlorn Hope: Now it's been... more than two months- but uh. Oh well! Thank you :) And yes, it is indeed PG. I just had to have a bit of tension earlier, but nothing will actually happen. Not yet anyway. Nothing big unless it's right with the story. Anywho! Thanks :)

Xtreme Nuisance: Hi, yes. It's been a long time but I finally felt like updating! And yeah, at the time I didn't remember they went by military hours. Oh well.

Morgana Mitchell: Soooo, this probably wasn't as soon as you'd hoped but... uh. Hope you're still reading! Long live Selfer, w00t!

Thorn Rose: Wow. It's been a long time since I've updated. Agh, sorry! And thanks :)

gamergal20: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it! I hope you're still reading.

chitana: Thank you 

Agh. Damn you writer's block! Making me lose my readers... hopefully you'll come back to me and this story. I miss youuu! Please review, I hope I didn't lose ALL of you. 


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